Dinosaur Fossils Discovered In Hong Kong For The First Time In History
Hong Kong’s government made a historic and exciting announcement this week. For the first time in history, Dinosaur fossils were found in the special administrative region of China on a remote island in the financial center’s countryside.
The fossils were discovered on Port Island, which is an uninhabitable area of rocks in the northeastern waters of the city, which is near Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department back in March.
Researchers involved in the discovery determined that the fossils likely originated from a large aged dinosaur during the Cretaceous period, which followed the Jurassic period and took place more than 145 million to 66 million years ago.
“The discovery is of great significance and provides new evidence for research on palaeoecology in Hong Kong,” Secretary of Development in Hong Kong Bernadette Linn said in a statement.
Port Island has been a designated location for scientific research and interest since 1979. It’s a part of Hong Kong’s UNESCO Global Geopark, which is classified as a cluster of islands. The Geopark is protected by an international framework, and has been utilized as an educational tool.
“Further studies will have to be conducted to confirm the species of the dinosaur. Port Island and the wider country park will be closed for further excavations and research. The dinosaur fossils will also be on public display at Hong Kong’s Heritage Discovery Center [starting this week],” officials said.
Experts in paleontology in Hong Kong have stated that this is a landmark discovery that’s a big deal for the area. Hong Kong is already known as a city with a complex geological history, as well as changing weather patterns.
“The only way we can find dinosaur fossils is if there is a bit on the surface that we can see. The remains may have fully eroded if researchers arrived later,” Michael Pittman, an assistant professor of life sciences at the Chinese University of Hong Kong told CNN.
“The only dinosaur-era things Hong Kong has found so far are plants and fish,” he said.
For the region, the discovery of fossils from an organism’s body is rare. Beyond Hong Kong, skeletal remains have not typically been found in southern China.
“If they end up finding a whole skeleton of a big dinosaur or two dinosaurs, they might have to go back next summer, and the summer after that,” Pittman said.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
